Instant Pot Corned Beef
Cooking corned beef brisket in an Instant Pot will give you very tender and juicy meat. I combine many aromatic spices together to infuse the beef during the cooking process. My corned beef brisket is all about the flavor!
I use my Instant Pot A LOT to cook tougher meats that require longer cooking time. Instant Pot is a perfect tool for those meats because it cuts out hours of cooking and the results are very tender.
I make corned beef brisket several times a year, sometimes I make it in the oven and sometimes in the Instant Pot. I’ve compiled a great aromatic combination of spices to take my recipe to the next level. In all my recipes, I love to focus on the flavor!
I often incorporate different techniques in addition to the ingredients to make it taste as good as possible. In this recipe, I take a few more minutes to broil the brisket with some spicy mustard to caramelize the top.
Featured Comment
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I have put off making Corned Beef for the past 10 years because mine always shreds and isn’t tasty. Also, neither my husband or daughter said they would eat if if I made it. Well in less than 24 hours, 2.5 lbs. of corned beef cooked this way is not leftover. Totally eaten! Thank you!” ~Susan
Tips For Ingredients
- Corned Beef Brisket – You’ll need to get uncooked corned beef brisket. I like to get closer to 4 lb. one so we have plenty of leftovers!
- Spices – this is the combination of spices for corned beef I found to taste best: whole mustard seeds, whole Peppercorns, whole cloves, whole allspice berries, crushed red pepper flakes, coriander seeds, and bay leaves.
- Mustard – use Gourmet or spicy mustard to run the cooked corned beef before broiling. It creates a great caramelized element! (NOT yellow mustard.)
- See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Instant Pot Corned Beef Brisket
- Combine quartered onion, smashed garlic, and the seasoning together in the Instant Pot.
- Add the brisket on top but make sure to do it fat cap up and pour in the broth.
- When working with the Instant Pot, it’s important to use it properly. Close the lid of the Instant Pot and make sure to latch it. Make sure to turn the valve to “seal.”
- Set Instant Pot to pressure cook on “stew/meat” setting for 75 minutes. It will take a few minutes to heat up and build the pressure before it starts cooking.
- Release the pressure naturally for 20 minutes at first and then quick release. Make sure to carefully turn the valve and do a quick release to let remaining pressure out.
- To caramelize the top of the corned beef, rub it with mustard, place it on the baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, fat cap up. Set your oven on the low broil setting and set the rack in the middle of the oven (8-10 inches away from the heating element).
- Broil until browned for a couple of minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on it so the top doesn’t burn!
- Always slice the meat against the grain! Luckily, with the corned beef brisket, it’s very easy to see the grain. You can look on the bottom since there is a fat cap on top.
Do I Have to Increase the Cook Time for a Larger Brisket?
- Not really – it depends if the brisket is the same thickness. Cooking time depends not on the weight of the meat as much as the thickness.
- When you’re looking at different briskets at the store, you’ll notice that the thickness will be the same but some pieces are just longer than others.
- The cook time in the pressure cooker should be the same for them. I used 75 minutes for my 3.5 and 4.8 lb. pieces because they were about the same thickness.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve this corned beef with any other side dish you like. You can easily serve it with colcannon (Irish Mashed Potatoes and Cabbage), roasted potatoes, fried cabbage, and other veggies you prefer.
- Slice brisket against the grain into thin slices and use it in sandwiches. Reuben Sandwich is a great way to use corned beef.
- Make sliders like corned beef sliders or Reuben sliders.
Storing Instructions
- Store leftover cooked corned beef brisket in an airtight food storage container in the refrigerator. Properly stored, it should stay good for about 3-4 days.
- To reheat the slices of corned beef brisket, I recommend doing so in the oven to preserve the juiciness. Wrap some slices in foil and reheat in the oven at 350°F just until heated through.
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Instant Pot Corned Beef Brisket Recipe
Ingredients
- 3.5-4 lb corned beef brisket (if using my seasonign mix, discard the spice packet)
- 1 large onion
- 5 garlic cloves
- 4 cups low sodium beef broth (regular beef stock can be used)
Spice mix:
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp peppercorns
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 tsp allspice berries
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
To broil:
- 2 tbsp spicy or gourmet mustard more if needed
Instructions
- Quarter onion and spread it in an Instant Pot. Add garlic cloves and seasoning mix.
- Place brisket on top of onions, fat cap up.
- Add beef stock.
- Close the lid of the Instant Pot and make sure it’s latched. Make sure to turn the valve to “seal.”
- Set Instant Pot to pressure cook on "stew/meat" setting for 75 minutes. It will take a few minutes to heat up and build the pressure before it starts cooking.
- Once time is up, let it naturally release for 20 minutes. After that, you can carefully turn the valve and do a fast release to let remaining pressure out.
- Take brisket out and place it on the baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, fat cap up.
- Set oven to low broil setting and set the rack in the middle of the oven (make sure it's 8-10 inches away from the heating element).
- Rub top and sides of the brisket with spicy mustard.
- Place in the oven, under the broiler and let it caramelize until browned for a couple of minutes. (Make sure to keep an eye on it so the top doesn’t burn.)
- Take corned beef brisket out and make sure to slice the meat against the grain! Luckily, with the corned beef brisket, it’s very easy to see the grain, you can look on the bottom since there is a fat cap on top.
Video
Notes
- Storing: Store leftover cooked corned beef brisket in an airtight food storage container in the refrigerator. Properly stored, it should stay good for about 3-4 days.
- To reheat: the slices of corned beef brisket, I recommend doing so in the oven to preserve the juiciness. Wrap some slices in foil and reheat in the oven at 350°F just until heated through.
- The number one tip that I have to making corned beef is DO NOT ADD SALT! Corned beef is cured in a very salty brine so it is already quite salty. This salt transfers into the broth while cooking so the dish will be salty enough. I even rinse the brisket when taking it out of the package to wash off some excess salt.
- IF you absolutely do not like a lot of salty flavor, you can choose to do an extra step and quickly bring brisket to a boil in a pot of water. This will take extra salt out. To do that, place brisket in a pot of water and bring it to boil. As soon as it starts to boil, take the brisket out.
- Beer: You can opt for cooking corned beef with or without the addition of beer. If you want to add beer, replace 1 cup of broth with 1 cup of beer. Some people like to add Guinness but personally, I find that it adds bitterness to the brisket. If you are not a fan of bitter beer, choose an ale. Killian’s is a good addition in this recipe.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in February 2019.
More of the Beef Brisket Recipes
Categories:
Beef Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Instant Pot Main Dishes, Instant Pot Recipes, Most Popular Recipes, St. Patrick's Day Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
This recipe is perfect! Thank you!
I am so pleased you liked it, Donna!
This was awesome. I was skeptical about using the instapot for only 35 minutes as my last corn beef in the insta pot said 90 minutes cooking time. It worked. Everybody loved it
SO glad you liked it, Betty!
It says 75 minutes not 35?
I think it must have been a typo 🙂 She would notice the different at 35, lol.
I plan on making this in my slow cooker. Who doesn’t love corned beef. It can be used for sandwiches or as a main dish. I love serving this with rosemary potatoes or mashed. I like the fact that I can just let it slow cook while doing other stuff. The recipe looks bomb and I can’t wait to try this! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Shalom
Looks very delicious, I want to try at home now.
You should! It is a family favorite! Let me know what you think if you try it.
Amazing!
Thanks, Susan!
I have put off making Corned Beef for the past 10 years because mine always shreds and isn’t tasty. Also, neither my husband or daughter said they would eat if if I made it. Well in less than 24 hours, 2.5 lbs of corned beef cooked this way is not leftover. Totally eaten! Thank you!
Yay! I am so glad you liked it! 🙂
I made this tonight. I didn’t have beef bouillon so I just put water – with onion and garlic. After trimming a lot of fat my roast was probably max 3 pounds- cooked for 60 min instead of 75. I did smear it with spicy mustard and put it in the broiler- I really enjoyed the taste it put on the meet….
I’m so glad it all worked out and you enjoyed it! I’m all about adding flavor 😉
That is a very small brisket so I would cut the cooking time in half also know that it will shrink while it cooks so that size brisket is going to fed one maybe two people.
I only have a 1 1/2 lb brisket.. should I still cook it for 85 minutes?